1. Field of the Invention
The subject matter disclosed generally relates to the field of mobile two-way teleconferencing.
2. Background Information
Robots have been used in a variety of applications ranging from remote control of hazardous material to assisting in the performance of surgery. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,762,458 issued to Wang et al. discloses a system that allows a surgeon to perform minimally invasive medical procedures through the use of robotically controlled instruments. One of the robotic arms in the Wang system moves an endoscope that has a camera. The camera allows a surgeon to view a surgical area of a patient.
Tele-robots such as hazardous waste handlers and bomb detectors may contain a camera that allows the operator to view the remote site. Canadian Pat. No. 2289697 issued to Treviranus, et al. discloses a teleconferencing platform that has both a camera and a monitor. The platform includes mechanisms to both pivot and raise the camera and monitor. The Treviranus patent also discloses embodiments with a mobile platform, and different mechanisms to move the camera and the monitor.
There has been marketed a mobile robot introduced by InTouch Technologies, Inc., the assignee of this application, under the trademarks COMPANION and RP-6. The InTouch robot is controlled by a user at a remote station. The remote station may be a personal computer with a joystick that allows the user to remotely control the movement of the robot. Both the robot and remote station have cameras, monitors, speakers and microphones to allow for two-way video/audio communication. The robot camera provides video images to a screen at the remote station so that the user can view the robot's surroundings and move the robot accordingly.
The InTouch robot system typically utilizes a broadband network such as the Internet to establish the communication channel between the remote station and the robot. For various reasons the network may not always reliably transmit information between the remote station and the robot. For example, the remote station may transmit control commands to the robot that are never received. The control commands may be instructions to avoid a person or object. If the commands are not received the robot may hit the person/object. Additionally, updated video images from the robot may not be received by the remote station. The user is thus viewing outdated video images and may send commands that cause the robot to hit a person or object. It would be desirable to provide functions within the system to stop the robot in the event of transmission errors between the robot and remote station.